Vision of EscaflowneVan's Point of Veiw
by Key and WolfStar-SCA
Summary: just what the title says. We (us twins and all our friends) were wondering what was going on through Van's head in all those seens where he just stands and stares at Hitomi with that upset/hurt look, so here's our take on it. R&R if you want it updated
1. Episode 1: Fated Confession

Ok, it's been a while but I re-posted this after we FINALLY got something on this computer with a SPELL CHECK!! I'll have the next chappy up in no time, promise!  
~Key  
  
Episode 1: Fated Confession Was it a dream... ...or an illusion? No, it was all real. Yes, everything began when I went out to become king by right of Dragon Slaying.  
  
It was mid day, before I left, I got this odd sense that someone was watching me. It in fact held much of my concentration as I got ready to go, Balgus must have noticed this, for he asked. "Lord Van, are you ready?"  
  
"I am." I replied, he was uncertain of me?  
  
"I'm sure you can kill the dragon. Your brother's disgrace..." but no, Balgus is just being cautious. Was I being too sure? I may have been, but then there was that nagging feeling like eyes were on me, but no one else was in the room. If there was, Balgus would have sensed it. He is the best swordsman alive.  
  
"It's alright, Balgus! I won't show my back to the enemy!" I reassured him, this seemed to please him well enough, for he bowed and walked off.  
  
***  
  
I sat astride my war-horse. How odd it seems, I fear not of the dragon, or of kingship. I start off towards the Forest of Elvendar, a place where magic creatures are rumored to live. Magic! Ha! What a joke! My back itches again. It always itches. It itches cause I want to sprout my wings, but I can't let anyone know, that's what mother told me.  
  
***  
  
He'd been looking for a dragon in Elvendar for almost one whole night now. [I hate being out here on my own like this, but I can't go back until I kill one. I have to find one soon.] Almost as if to answer his silent plea, a Turtle Dragon crashed through the trees. Four of them actually. Van, of course, wasted no time in jumping onto his horse and hightailing it out of there.  
  
He nearly lost them. Turtle Dragons are named such not only for the fact that they resemble a turtle in appearance, but also cause they are as slow as one as well. But as he had said, he wanted to run into one, and one of them was far faster then the other three. Van's horse was suddenly no longer under him. He flew and hit a tree, standing up, he find himself a little worser for the where, but he still had enough of himself to fight with smarts.  
  
He had forgot, however, that turtle dragons are especially fond of horsemeat, which is why one would go hunting them on horses instead of in airships. Van positioned himself in such a way that made it so he could defend myself from a sudden attack but still rest up as much as possible.  
  
The dragon was almost done with the horse, and Van could hear the other three dragons approaching when suddenly, a light appeared all around him. He felt his feet lift off the ground. Should he sprout his wings? No, no need. He was only off the ground for a moment, like he had been picked up by a gust of wind or something. As the light faded, he looked around in confusion. He wasn't in the forest anymore... he didn't know where he was. Or where the dragon was.  
  
Van heard something approaching from behind him, it was coming fast. He turned just in time to see the very surprised eyes of... he wasn't really sure what. It looked like a girl in facial features, but it wasn't wearing a dress and it had such short hair. Well, what ever it is, it ran into him. It fell over, squeaking very much like a girl too, and succeeded on knocking him off balance for a moment or two.  
  
Completely baffled now, Van snapped, though he really didn't mean to, at... it "Who the hell are you? Where am I?"  
  
"Kanzaki!" Now this one he knew was a guy, it dressed like one, sounded like one, and looked like one.  
  
"Hitomi!" a girl from farther back called out as well. She was wearing a very short skirt and had deep crimson hair. They both ran to the confused two. Van looked down to see if 'it'--as he had already fondly learned to think of, well, it--was alright. "Are you alright, Hitomi? Hitomi...?" even though she was farther away, the little red head one was first to reach them.  
  
'Hitomi' as she called it looked up at Van with as much confusion as he was looking with at everything else. "He's... He's the boy from my dream." it stammered.  
  
Now Van was confused. [Dream? What dream? What's going on here?!? Where'd the Dragon go?!?]  
  
"Hey, you..."  
  
"Oh, be gone!" Van was not in the mood to deal with commoners. He had to find the dragon and kill it, then find out how to get back home.  
  
"You're the one from the other world, aren't you?" Hitomi asked.  
  
Van was simply baffled, what was going on here? Other world? [Other world... other world... other...] he looked up to the sky as was a habit for him when he was thinking. He liked looking at the moons. But... he noticed something. [The Mystic moon! I-it's missing!]  
  
He was brought back to reality by a question. "Who are you?" Hitomi asked.  
  
"Van. Is this place..." he replied in an absent tone, he heard a noise so unmistakably dragon, he pulled out his sword and prepared his shield. "So... it's here too."  
  
Hitomi looked confused "What?"  
  
"Hitomi, can you understand what this guy's on about?"  
  
"Get out of here! A turtle dragon is coming." Van warned.  
  
"Dragon...?" Hitomi asked  
  
"Hurry! Do you want the dragon to eat you?" Van asked, people could be really stupid.  
  
"Hey, you..." the guy tried to approach again. Van pushed him away, making a shooing motion with his hand impatiently. Another bolt of energy came from nearby. "Again...?"  
  
"What? What's gonna happen..." the red head was seemingly very dense. Van had already explained it to them twice now. She stopped her question as she noticed her friend grab her mouth. "Hitomi?"  
  
"I think I'm going to be sick." Hitomi winced, it sounded like it was feeling terrible. It looked it to.  
  
"It's here." Van got a crazy look on his face much like a bloodthirsty smile. A dragon appeared from nearby right on time as it walked out in the open.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Idiot. I already told you! It's a turtle dragon!"  
  
"Hitomi..." Yukari was getting more and more worried over her sandy mane friend.  
  
The dragon looked at them. "Over here! I'm your opponent. What's wrong?! You're hungry, aren't you?! Come and eat me!"  
  
"Your crazy, right?" the guy asked.  
  
"Run idiot!" Van hissed, they listened this time. The dragon breathed fire. Van put up his shield and blocked it. Then put the shield away, cause it was a nuisance and restricted motion. He pulled out a crossbow and shot the dragon in the eye. It fell over.  
  
"Did I do it?" Van asked himself in confusion. He expected it to be much harder. The Dragon swung it's tail, knocking him over. Van spit up some blood as he felt three of his ribs crack. [Gods above did that hurt.] But he had no more time to complain about it as the dragon looked at the three from the Mystic Moon.  
  
"Go after the easy ones first, huh?" Van mused "Chicken. Hey, Hitomi or whatever you're called, run! Hurry and run!"  
  
"Okay! Amano, let's go to the mountain!" she called, all three took of at a sprint.  
  
[Whoa! They're fast!] Van blinked, before he grabbed his sword and slashed it at the dragon, doing no damage. The 'Idiot' and the others ran on, not noticing that the Dragon was starting after them. The red-head tripped and fell over.  
  
"Yukari!" Hitomi called to her friend.  
  
"It hurts." she whined as she clutched her ankle in pain. The other two stupidly turned back to help her.  
  
That's all Van paid mind to, he had to fight the dragon after all. He was barely conscious of the fact that they had started to run again. The Dragon saw their attempts to flee and headed after them. "Damn it! Hey! Wait up! I'M your opponent! Not them! Stupid!" Van called out after it, being very not pleased.  
  
They ran underneath a tunnel like structure. The dragon followed. [No normal human has ever been able to outrun a dragon before. What are these people of the Mystic Moon?]  
  
Van noticed that he was loosing distance to the dragon quickly. "I won't let you get away!" he cried while sprinting with all the speed he had and grabbed hold of it's tail. As he climbed farther up its back it jumped up onto the tunnel thingy and continued to chase it's pray. "Ooh! Would-you. Hold. Still?!?" he growled at it.  
  
The Dragon jumped off the other end of the tunnel, blocking off the teens. This caused Van to fall off the dragon's back. "Hey! Big and ugly! Over here! I'm your enemy, remember?!?"  
  
"Is he crazy?" he heard the one called Hitomi ask out loud.  
  
As his spectators ran to shelter, the dragon began to breathe fire again. Van attacked but the Dragon knocked him over again. "My sword can't penetrate its scales." Van announced with disappointment. [Weak point, weak point, weak point! Where's it's weak point damn it?!?] The Dragon charged Van and raised it's tail up.  
  
"Look out! Behind you!" Hitomi called as it ran down the stairs.  
  
Van jumped back and the tail tore his armor off. "Got you." Van cheered. He jumped on its back and slid his sword down the dragons' back. He ran to the front and stabbed it in the chest. Blood poured all over him, but he didn't care. He felt it. Warm to the point of almost being hot. Like being held in the arms of his mother back when he was still so young. For a moment, Van felt sorry for killing it, wondering if IT had a family at home somewhere, all alone and scared, now nothing but orphans having to fend for themselves in the harsh world. The Dragon fell over, dead. Van cut through its chest and took out a glowing stone. If he killed it, it may as well be for the proper purpose. [No use feeling sorry for it now, after all.] he told himself as the Dragon crumbled into dust and its blood disappeared.  
  
"Umm... ...are you alright?" the Hitomi person asked. He noticed now it's figure... it is a girl after all.  
  
"This wasn't so serious that I need help from a woman. Do you want thanks? If so, then come to the castle. But don't be conceited. I'll repay you for involving you in the dragon hunt. It doesn't mean that I defeated the dragon due to your help."  
  
And she slapped him. He went into instantaneous shock. He had never been hit before in his life, especially not by a peasant girl. He was Crown Prince of Fanalia, future king, after all! He reached his hand to where it was still red and looked at her in mixed wonderment and confession.  
  
"What's the matter with you?! I thought you were gonna get killed... I thought you were gonna get killed... so... I was scared... ...so scared! Why don't you say thanks or something? I shouldn't have saved a guy like you! You should've been eaten by that dragon!" she screamed at him, it was then he saw that she was starting to cry.  
  
He was about to ask her what was wrong when his attention was pulled away to the stone. It was glowing. "The Energist..." he whispered in wonderment and confusion. This evening was just getting weirder and weirder with each passing moment, he thought for a moment that this may all be just some sort of screwed up dream. But then he remembered that he didn't have a good enough imagination to come up with this.  
  
The ground then lit up underneath them. A pillar of light appeared around them once more, and they start to be lifted into the air.  
  
"Kanzaki! Kanzaki!" he could hear the other boy, what's-his-name call to the odd 'Hitomi' girl.  
  
"Amano!" that's right. That was his name. He and this Hitomi girl seemed close. "Amano!" she called his name out again.  
  
The pillar of light carried them to the sky, depositing them in the woods. Van looked around him. [I'm back. It will take a good day and a half to two days to walk back to Fanalia, but at least the light didn't drop me back in the middle of those other three dragons. I could always fly back, but...] it was then he spotted the girl from the Mystic Moon, curled up in a ball and shivering like a rattlesnake's tail.  
  
Van approached and knelt down beside her, in as gentle a tone as he could manage with his exhaustion, he said "Hey, hey. It's ok. We're safe. Nothing to fear. Dragons don't come into this part of the wood. They don't like the bugs." he tried his best to comfort the girl.  
  
"You're..." she began but stopped as she looked up, not at him like she had originally started for, but farther up. "W-wh-where?"  
  
"Hmm?" he asked as he followed her line of sight. "Oh. I gather from the Mystic Moon you can't see Geae like we can see you... I wonder why not." when he got no response, he continued talking. "We're about an hour or two's walk from the village of Urthas and somewhere between a day and a half and two days from the capital city of Fanalia." she was still destrot, so Van tried to reassure her again. "He-ey, don't you worry. Everything's going to be alright. You'll see."  
  
"Urthas...? Fanellia...? Gaea? What's going on?"  
  
Van was interrupted from answering by growl. A group of standing wolves surround them. 


	2. Episode 2: Girl From the Mystic Moon

Episode 2: The Girl From the Mystic Moon Was it a dream... or an illusion? No, it was real. I went to slay the dragon, to complete my ceremony to become King of Fanalia, but it was long that I had to wait to find one, and when one did come, we battled in the oddest of places. The Mystic Moon. And now that I'm back on Geae, I find one of it's inhabitants has followed me home.  
  
"We're surrounded." Van noted with a cocky smile. "Very good Ruhm, I didn't even notice you come up."  
  
***  
  
Later, they sat on the back of a yak driven cart. Ruhm was driving with Van and Hitomi in the back. "Y-you went to the Mystic Moon? So, that girl is..."  
  
"Yeah, she's a resident of the Mystic Moon." Van was too tired and had seen to many weird things these last twelve hours, he really was on the verge of shock. The whole concept of going to the Mystic Moon and bringing back a cu- er, a girl was not as grand as it should be.  
  
"Whadda ya know..." Ruhm looked back for a moment to study the girl. Van did the same. She seemed to be dealing with the shock in a more nervous and stiff way. She sat there, hands in her lap and posture rigged, looking around at everything and nothing and... yes... she was shivering slightly in fear.  
  
"Mystic Moon?" Hitomi asked, shrinking a little as she noticed both of them were looking at her.  
  
[She... she actually looks... cute... when she furrows her brow.] a stray thought entered Van's head.  
  
Ruhm points to the sky, trying to help her relax more. "Look. It's that blue moon where you came from."  
  
"Mystic Moon... You mean Earth?"  
  
"Earth, huh? Is that what you call it up there?"  
  
"Yes. And on Earth there are no dragons or talking animal people that can drive carts." she stated, getting back a little confidence, then she realized to whom she was speaking and flushed slightly, apologizing to the men. "N-No offense."  
  
"Chuckle!Sigh. Whatever." Van rolled his eyes, not bothering to contradict the older man, knowing it would do no good to change the man's opinion of the situation  
  
"Now, my price, that you have that off your chest, let us go and 'play' before we have to sit and be pretty during the coronation ceremony, yes?"  
  
"Alright. I guess." they went to the royal practice chambers, where the prince readied himself for humiliation. Only those who are closest to the prince were aloud down this hall, for it was unseemly for royalty to be in public while learning anything.  
  
They begin practice, but Van was doing terribly this day. He was usually better, but what he and Balgus had been speaking of earlier was still bugging him. Van attempted to put it out of his mind, and decided to go all out. He charged Balgus, but was parried off to the side. He really wasn't into this today, and Balgus could tell. "You didn't charge aggressively enough, Lord Van. Attack me as if you're trying to kill me."  
  
"I don't like using a sword to kill someone." Van replied quietly.  
  
"Lord Van, you're going to be the King of Fanelia... ...I want you to get rid of your timidness."  
  
"I'm not going to be the King because I want to. I will be because I am the only one left of my family line. You know I don't care for all that fluff and nonsense of the court."  
  
"Yes... I've noticed. That is the reason, as I recall, that you have always ran around in peasant dress. To avoid such things."  
  
"So why now force me to be what you know I am not?"  
  
"Lord Van." Balgus replied, the tone of his voice proved that they ad been over this millions of times. But he stopped short as he noticed Hitomi looking through the door. "You have a guest."  
  
"I-I didn't mean to interrupt you o-or anything, i-it's just..." Hitomi began, she was blushing at being caught.  
  
"Oh, it's you." Van, too, blushed slightly. He wondered how long she had been there.  
  
"That's why I don't like strangers, because they don't know etiquette." all eyes turned to the cat girl as she walked into the room, swinging something around her finger.  
  
"Hey, you! Give that back!"  
  
"No. Mine now!" and Merle took off running. Hitomi got down in a weird stance (you know, the racing one? They've never seen racers before) before taking off after her with such precision and speed that she caught up... and passed Merle, snatching away the object in question as she did so.  
  
"Brat..." Hitomi sneered as she slowed down to a walk and made her way back to the door, putting the necklace on as she did so.  
  
Merle on the other hand was shocked at such a display, as are the other two, but I'm speaking of Merle here so, she ran to Van for comfort and buried her head in his chest. "Lord Van!" but Van was busy staring at Hitomi.  
  
Balgus walked up to Hitomi. "I heard the story. You saved Lord Van. As soon as the coronation's over, we'll do our best to find a way back to the Mystic Moon."  
  
"Really?" Hitomi was so full of hope, Van wished that she wouldn't be, but at the same time, he was happy for her.  
  
"The samurai of Fanelia don't lie." Balgus told her, proud at the ability to state that truth to the foreigner.  
  
***  
  
Crowds of people tried to watch the ceremony.  
  
"I wanted to see how great Lord Van looks." Merle squeaked.  
  
Van looked over to where she and Hitomi were sitting. He felt his heart jump in his chest. [What's going on with me?] Van's attention was pulled back as the High Priest of Escaflowne approached. Van was presented with the royal sword. "Van Fanel, King of Fanelia. I present this to you as a symbol of kingship."  
  
***  
  
Later, at a tower near the edge of town...  
  
"I'm looking forward to the festival tonight."  
  
"Are you going to ask her to go out?"  
  
"Of course." He saw something in the horizon. "A shimmer...?"  
  
"What ?"  
  
"Noth..."  
  
Suddenly, a arm appears out of thin air and shoots them with some sort of metal claw. It slices through the wall. and vanishes. Footsteps start heading to the city.  
  
"What's happening ?!" Soldier  
  
"What...?! What's coming?!" Bystander. He is stepped on by the invisible things in front of them.  
  
"A...demon...?!" Soldier  
  
Meanwhile, above...  
  
"Hey, what's that?"  
  
"It's smoking over there."  
  
"A fire...?"  
  
A troop comander road up on a horse. "Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Women and children, escape to the mountains in the back! All men, prepare for battle! Let me through!"  
  
"Invisible enemy...?!" Balgus cursed under his breath. How were thy to fight something they couldn't even see.  
  
"Balgus ..." Asona called to his fellow samurai and warmaster.  
  
"Stop the enemy with your Melefs. Luva, Asona, Yurizen...I'm counting on you." Balgus called out orders left and right.  
  
"Sir." was the reply he got from the well trained guards.  
  
Van was a little more than suprised, but when in doubt, ask your warmaster. "What should I do?"  
  
"You'd better go to the Shrine of Escaflowne with our guest, Hitomi." Balgus told him. (I always saw this seen here to show how inexperianced Van was in the ways of fighting.)  
  
"Escaflowne..." Van repeated in a woried whisper. He hated to admit it, but he was afraid og the big war thing. All it did was bring suffering. And he had never pioleted a Gymelif before, melifs yes, but he had head that the larger armor was a little diferent, and this armor was thousands of years old, who knows how diferent it really was?  
  
"Yes. If the worst happens, please escape with Escaflowne." Balgus told him. Van just nodded. Oh, how he hated this idea!  
  
He raced through the crowd to the biwildered and terified looking Hitomi, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. This was, after all, her second day on Geae. He ran up to her, and, feeling oddly bold, took her hand in his own. She jumped at the contact and looked at him for a second as if to try and remember who he was. His heart seemed to sink for a moment, but he brushed it off. "Come on, come with me." he told her.  
  
She let him lead her away from the fight, and up the side of the nearby stairwell. As they ran, he could only think on how much he hated the thing that was doing this to his people.  
  
***  
  
The hidden enemy slauter the defending force, killing the soldeirs with metal and flame alike. Before anyone was the wiser, the city had gone ablase, everything was lost. Balgus looked around him. He had witnised his fellow three High Samurai die by the attack, and knew the contries one hope lay with it's newly appointed King, Van. With that knowlage burried deep in his heart, he turned and fled for the temple where Van had taken that odd girl from the Mystic Moon that he had already fallen in love with.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, in a shrine, Van and Hitomi stand. Van cuts his finger on his sword and lets blood go into the energist. He holds it up. "I am the new King of Fanelia, Van Fanel! With my blood, I'm willing to make a contract with you, Escaflowne. Sleeping dragon, awaken now." The room lights up, and a rock above him cracks, revealing a giant Guymelef.  
  
"That's the one from my dream..." Hitomi whispers in awe.  
  
[Her dreams again? What's going on?] The Guymelef falls to the ground. Van places the energist in a jewel on its chest. The cockpit opens and he gets in. "Good." he said, looking over the controls.  
  
"Hey! What're you going to do?!" Hitomi called up to him.  
  
"I'm gonna fight in Escaflowne." He told her matter of factly, getting ready to go. "Alright. It's the same as that ancient book described it. I can pilot it."  
  
"That's Escaflowne..."  
  
"What're you doing?! Hide yourself now!" Van told her, he didn't know what he would do to himself if she got hurt. One of the invisible enemies entered the shrine. "There you are." Van starts walking in Escaflowne and draws his sword.  
  
"Van, to your left!" he heard Hitomi cry.  
  
"What?!" He was confused by that, but turned to see what she was on about.  
  
"Look out!" She screamed.  
  
From the very direction she said it was at, a metle clay came from no where and shot at Van. Because of the heads up, he was able to block the attack. "You can't escape!" he warned what he seriously believed to be a demond. He swiped at the enemy, revealing it to be a Guymelef. "What?" The Guymelef formed a sword. Van swiped off it's entire arm. Hitomi notices another behind him.  
  
"Van, behind you!"  
  
Balgus arives and chops off the Guymelef's arm. Both teens call out to him in releif. But his reply has no such minor joy. "Lord Van, escape with Hitomi now!"  
  
"I won't show my back to the enemy and escape!" he called. [That would be the cowardly thing to do, and not only can I not stand for that as King defending my people, but what would Hitomi think of such an act?]  
  
"Lord Van!"  
  
Van attacks another one, then blocked its attack. The second Guymelef swipes at him, but Balgus blocks it. "Balgus!"  
  
Balgus knocked it over and stabed the cockpit with his sword. "Lord Van! If you are ever going to listen to me again in the future, do so now! Take the girl and leave!"  
  
Van obediantly knocked over the enemy and picked up Hitomi. "Let's go! Hang on!" Van headed outside and saw the whole city burning. Van felt at that moment like he couldn't breath. Everything he'd ever cared for in life was being put to ashes by these invisible guymelefs. "It's over, Balgus. Withdraw." he gave the order.  
  
"Watch out, Balgus!" he numbly heared Hitomi scream. He turned to see what she was on about and saw another Guymelef shoot at Balgus and kill him. He fell to the ground.  
  
"Balgus!" Van wasn't sure if the cry came from him, or from someone else.  
  
"Lord Van, get out of here with Escaflowne. And someday, revive Fanelia... ...the people of Fanelia..." Balgus called to the young king before dieing.  
  
"Balgus!"  
  
Another group of Guymelefs surround Van.  
  
"No... No... No!" he heard Hitomi crying. She was... scared. He had to get her out of here.  
  
Hitomi's pendant glew strangely and a pillar of light enveloped Escaflowne. The survivors watch on. "Lord Van... Lord Van!" Merle called out at the pillar, crying slightly. 


End file.
